Kylie Verzosa

"“Being a beauty queen is putting your best foot forward. It’s my job to be the best I can be.”"

"“And I like it because it pushes me and it gives me that pressure to be at your peak all the time — to be beautiful physically, to be able to say something at the snap of anyone’s finger.”"

"“It’s not what people think it is. It’s a lot of hard work because it’s not a common job. It’s not the normal path to success.”"

"“It’s fulfilling because it pushes me, but at the same time, it’s a job. I’m my own person at the end of the day. I go home and kick off my shoes, and I’m Kylie again.""

""It takes a lot of emotional and mental strength — but I like it. It’s fun, it’s work, and I wouldn’t do anything else. It took so much for me to get here, and for me to stay here.”"

"I wanted to talk about depression and suicide, and how mental illness is affecting the youth, and how suicide rates are increasing."

"“I wanted to take on mental health because it was something I went through. I know what it’s like to be depressed.”"

"“I was lucky to have a strong support group.""

"I kept my surroundings clean."

"It’s possible to heal depression naturally, but it’s important to seek your doctor’s advice first."

"“I just wanted to talk about mental health because no one was doing it at the time — no one was doing it when I was going through it.”"

"So I just said what I felt like saying. I didn’t know it was going to grow into this huge thing."

"It is with developing in each of us sensitivity to other cultures that we expand our horizons, tolerate differences, and appreciate diversity."

"This is for all my fellowmen who have lost their jobs in the middle of the pandemic. To the youth, we are now more than ever capable of speaking up. Use your voice, stand for what you believe in."